


Torn in Two Directions

by Akira_of_the_Twilight



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Bucky Barnes Feels, Love Triangles, M/M, Pining, Steve Rogers Feels, conflicted feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 02:25:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8872018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akira_of_the_Twilight/pseuds/Akira_of_the_Twilight
Summary: Prompt: Omg prompts!!! Steve and Bucky are in love with Tony, and it's putting a strain in their friendship because they don't know what to do, they love each other to death but they won't quit to having a chance with Tony. I leave the ending to your imagination!!
The atmosphere of joviality vanished once they were out of Tony’s earshot and sight.Bucky gnawed the inside of his cheek. “This is getting worse,” he mumbled.Steve nodded.“I’m sorry for acting like a jackass in there.” Bucky sighed and shook his head.Steve also sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “No. I was just as much of an ass. This is complicated.”





	

“Okay, you two to your corners.” Tony pointed at Steve and Bucky then at the two back corners of the communal kitchen. “Your concern is noted and appreciated, but you two are turning into a couple of overbearing boyfriends from the young adult romance novel section.” Tony grumbled as he pulled out a small first aid kit from under the sink and produced a band aid from the kit.

Steve cringed. “Sorry, Tony. We were just worried.”

There was more than worry at play here, but Bucky wasn’t going to say it aloud and neither was Steve.  Even if things were a little strained between them right now, they wouldn’t throw the other under the bus by revealing the drama that was roiling under the surface of the moment.

Tony huffed and washed his cut finger under the sink. “It’s just a cut. Not even that deep. I’ve had worse.”

“That doesn’t make it any less painful,” Steve argued.

“The amount of blood also suggests the cut went deep,” Bucky tacked on. A part of himself scolded himself for speaking when it wasn’t necessary, but that part of himself was viciously shoved down by his more optimistic half that was hoping he’d get Tony’s attention by speaking up.

Tony’s eyes flicked to Bucky, and Bucky inwardly preened at the attention.

“I promise, it’s not that deep. See?” Tony shut off  the sink then went over to Bucky and offered Bucky his finger to examine.

Happiness spread through Bucky at Tony’s approach. With a delicate touch he examined Tony’s cut, then with a soft smile he relinquished Tony’s hand. “You’re right.”

“Of course I am.” Tony strutted over to the sink where he’d left his band aid, picked up said band aid, and after a momentary struggle to take it out of its packaging, Tony wrapped the band aid around his finger.

As Tony bandaged himself, Bucky sneaked a look at Steve.

Guilt punched Bucky in the gut. A deep frown had settled on Steve’s face and created a canyon of wrinkles across his forehead.

Steve must have sensed Bucky staring, because he looked Bucky’s way and when did he forced himself to smile.

Bucky’s gut churned.

“All right, Pop and Dad, now that you know my cut is bandaged and that I’m not dying, do you two mind giving me some space while I finish making dinner? Not that I don’t enjoy the eye candy, but I can sense your inner turmoil from over here. So unless you two want to have a therapy session, I would really appreciate it if you removed your brooding selves from my kitchen.”

Bucky and Steve exchanged a quick look, silently confirming with each other that the other was going to leave the room. Once they knew that they wouldn’t be exiting only to leave their competition with Tony, Bucky and Steve left.

The two super soldiers were stopped in the doorway when Tony projected over his shoulder, “You know, you two could have selected therapy session. I wouldn’t have minded.”

Steve and Bucky smiled at Tony.

That was the thing about Tony. As much as he liked to act tough and like he wasn’t a sentimental kind of person, he was a lot more sensitive to emotions than people gave him credit for. He also really did care and wanted to help; he just didn’t always know how to express it without feeling like he was making himself vulnerable as well.

“It’s okay, we have private therapy sessions,” Steve teased.

“We’ll invite you one day when Steve gets over his issues.”

“ _My_ issues?” Steve teased.

“I’m not the one who wants to start a fight every day.”

“You exaggerate.”

“I wish I did.”

Tony chuckled. “Careful, Steve. If you argue with Bucky, you’ll end up proving his point.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but smiled. He patted Bucky on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s give the chef some privacy.”

Bucky nodded and let Steve lead him out of the kitchen and into the living room.

The atmosphere of joviality vanished once they were out of Tony’s earshot and sight.

Bucky gnawed the inside of his cheek. “This is getting worse,” he mumbled.

Steve nodded.

They’d both been fighting for Tony’s attention and shoving themselves into Tony’s space before Tony had cut himself. Quite a few times Tony had asked them to give him space, but each time they would put some distance between themselves and Tony, they were soon be plastered to him again because they thought the other was a few inches closer to Tony than himself.

They also had been subtly shoving each other out of the way to get closer to Tony.

All in all, it wasn’t good.

“I’m sorry for acting like a jackass in there.” Bucky sighed and shook his head.

Steve also sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “No. I was just as much of an ass. This is complicated. We may have been attracted to some of the same people before, but we both know this isn’t just attraction.”

Bucky nodded. Steve and him didn’t just want to hook up with Tony and then move on with their lives; they wanted to date him, which made the situation all the more difficult. A physical attraction both of them could have ignored, but a romantic one was something different.

Neither could ask the other to give up on Tony, and neither of them could let Tony go without at least trying to fight for his affections.

“Maybe we’re just going to have to tell Tony,” Bucky said. “We can do it together.” Bucky pushed himself to smile. “And if he rejects us both then at least we’ll have each other there.”

Steve snorted in amusement. “Sounds good, but it’s going to be terrible if he rejects only one of us.”

A sharp pang rang out in Bucky’s chest. “Yeah…”

Steve straightened and plastered a cheerful expression on his face. “Things aren’t too bad yet, and Tony is a genius. If he hasn’t figured out both of us have feelings for him yet, he will soon. We can wait a little longer until then.”

Bucky nodded. He felt sick with himself. Steve and him could fight Nazis, aliens, and enhanced individuals without experiencing an ounce of fear. Tony though scared them shitless.

Steve and him had never run from anything, but when it came to Tony and their feelings that was exactly what they were doing, and Bucky hated it.

He was just too weak and cowardly to tell Steve that.

Because it wasn’t just Tony and his feelings that scared Bucky; the thought that he might lose Steve’s friendship terrified him too. Even if Tony returned his feelings, what would it matter if Steve was no longer his friend?

Steve squeezed Bucky’s shoulder, keeping his positive expression in place. “Friends?”

“‘Til the end of the line,” Bucky said, and he hoped it was true.


End file.
